


Take it back!

by notsugarandspice



Series: Prompts [4]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Break Up, Divorce???, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie screams louder than a siren, Elementary School, Fluff and Crack, Henry Bowers is a homophobic asshole, M/M, Reddie, ring pops are legally binding, they're all cute and stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 20:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsugarandspice/pseuds/notsugarandspice
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak has never been more shocked in his life. Richie is breaking up with him. It's over. The world stopped spinning. Why?IT Fandom Week: Break-Up/Divorce prompt





	Take it back!

 

“You’re breaking up with me?”

“Yeah. So just take it.”

“What? No-”

“Eddie, take it, I don’t want it anymore.”

“You didn’t even eat it! It’s Sour Apple! It’s my favorite!”

“Yeah, okay. Why don’t you give it to Myra, she looks like she could use twenty more boxes of these to totally complete your mom’s look.” Richie stalled off to the other side of the playground.

“You take that  _back_ , Tozier, that was so mean!” A couple of kids turned their heads to look in Eddie’s direction, eyes all googly as if they’ve never heard a kid scream.Eddie stuck his tongue out at all of them, and they turned away, whispering among themselves.

Eddie was so enraged at this point that the only logical solution was to stomp his foot and throw the green ring on the ground. The candy shattered in every direction but Eddie’s shriek was what made Richie turn around, his mouth opening in shock.

“Yeah, go ahead! You broke it just like you broke my heart.”

Eddie started in Richie’s direction, pointing his finger towards his ex-husband’s form that was now walking away from him. “I kissed you on the  _cheek_. I only kiss my mom on the cheek!”

Richie turned around and walked back towards Eddie, his hands shaking, face red from exasperation. “Boo  _hoo,_ Eds. You’re the one holding hands with Myra all over the place.”

“She asked me to hold her hand to make Dylan jealous! I’m her friend, why  _wouldn’t_  I?!” Eddie was basically spitting all over Richie’s glasses at this point, standing on his tippy toes because he could  _not_ allow himself to be smaller in this situation. Divorce is life and death, and Eddie’s not a cheater.

“Because she likes  _you,_ Eddie, everyone knows that! Are you really that stupid?” Richie pushed on Eddie’s temple lightly.

Eddie swatted the hand away, and his eyes started to well up with tears.  _It doesn’t_ matter.  _I don’t like_ her. “Don’t call me  _stupid!_ And I don’t like Myra! So stop being such a turd!”

“You  _are_ stupid! You gave me a  _ring!_ Was that all fake?” It was a miracle Mrs. Peterson didn’t hear them yet - most kids were circled around the farthest edge of the playground where the fight was taking place and not on the swings in the middle of the yard.

“Punch, h-huh-him, Eh-Eddie!” screamed Bill from the sidelines and Eddie couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Stop stuttering my name, Bill! And mind your own business. All of you!” he screamed towards the crowd surrounding them, and only three people walked away towards the slide.

Stan stepped into the circle, talking to Richie with his back to Eddie. “Richie, stop. You’re going to make all the teachers come out.”

“Stan, get out of the way!” screamed Eddie, trying to drag Stanley by the hem of his sweater vest.

“Don’t touch him, he’s  _my_  friend!” Richie stepped closer, pushing Stan into Bill, almost making them both fall over.

“I can’t believe I spent twenty cents on that ring. That’s all I had for a week. Ma is going to kill me!”

“Yeah, if she manages to catch up to you!”

“Shut  _up,_ you four-eyed-”

“ _You_ shut up, you wheezy little gnome!”

Eddie screamed loud enough for his own ears to hurt and grabbed Richie’s glasses from his stupid face, throwing them on the ground. He heard the lens break, and his face was covered with a satisfied sneer, not that Richie could  _see_ it now.

“Stop smashing things! You think you’re Hulk or some-“

“Now you can’t see me holding hands with  _anyone!_  Congratulations!”

Apparently, their voices have been raised loud enough for the teacher to hear and she ran up to them, pushing through the rows of kids congregated around the danger zone. “Edward! Richard! What on Earth is going on?”

“He started it!” screamed Richie, pointing in the direction of the trees.

Eddie could hear Mike and Ben stifling laughter on the bench where they always quietly read their books, and he would’ve joined in if he wasn’t so irreversibly bitter about the whole situation. “I didn’t start anything! Martha, I gave him a  _ring!_ Your husband took your ring, how did  _that_ feel?”

Mrs. Peterson’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets, and she stuttered on her response, reminding Eddie of when Bill tried to talk to Audra in the cafeteria. “O-okay, Edward, it’s time to go.” She put her hand between Eddie’s shoulder blades, pushing him towards the classroom.

Eddie stomped his foot and pointed at Richie. “What about  _him?”_

Mrs. Peterson seemingly forgot about the other perpetrator in her shocked daze and waved at Richie to come with them. Except they were halfway towards the building when she saw the dark-haired boy stumbling towards the woods, all the kids standing on the side with muffled giggles. Martha rolled her eyes and left Eddie standing with his arms crossed while she retrieved the other boy. She took him by the hand and picked up the glasses on her way back muttering under her breath.

They ended up sitting on opposite sides of the room, missing the last fifteen minutes of recess. Eddie turned his back to Richie, hot tears silently streaming down his face. They hadn’t talked the rest of the day and Friday seemingly ended before it began.

 

* * *

 

The entire weekend was pure torture to Eddie. Ever since he met Richie in first grade, they’ve  _never_ been apart for more than one day. Their parents weren’t close, but they struggled through ice cream meet-ups to make sure their sons could hang out. But this weekend, Eddie spent all two days in his room, interrupted only by Frank coming in to check his homework and Sonia bringing him food. He was sad, and he missed Richie. He decided to try to talk to him on Monday when he gets a chance. But he was  _not_ apologizing.

But the second he came into the classroom, his eyes fell on Richie sitting at his desk at the end of the room, staring out the window all still and quiet. Richie was  _never_ still and quiet. He’s always the last kid to sit down, not that Eddie spends too much time looking at Richie. But he now looked sad, and it made Eddie want to cry or hug him. Or both. He decided to wait until lunch to talk.

Richie hadn’t talked the entire day. He was quiet during the math game aka his favorite thing in the world, and Eddie constantly turned his head to watch his ex-husband fidget without actually moving or bothering anyone. It was weird and upsetting. Eddie wanted him to be back to normal.

Lunch came around, and Richie sat on the other side of the table instead of with Eddie like he always did. They were also on the same side so Eddie couldn’t even steal glances at him. Bill and Stan were blushingly whispering about Audra and Patty, and it was starting to really irritate Eddie. He  _also_ wanted to whisper things to Richie. Except he didn’t like Audra  _or_ Patty. He didn’t like girls at all - they were mean and gossipy. And Richie had pretty blue eyes.

Something was bubbling in Eddie’s gut, and he decided to be extremely radical today - he took his tray and walked to the other side of the table, pleased to see that the teachers were too busy talking to notice. There was a sliver of space next to Richie and Eddie plopped down there, happy that he was small enough to fit. Richie didn’t look up but looked at Eddie’s knee sadly, his shoulders slumped, head down. Eddie wanted to cry again.

“Hi,” said Eddie, scooting even closer, their knees bumping. Richie blushed, and the corner of his mouth jumped.  _Progress._

“Hi,” responded Richie, playing with the apple juice box in his hands. His voice was a little muffled.

“Are you mad at me?” asked Eddie, turning his back to the table full of annoying fifth graders, completely facing Richie now.

“Not anymore.” Eddie didn’t know if he imagined things, but Richie seemed to have developed a lisp in the span of two days.

“Why are you upset then?” Eddie poked Richie’s forearm, and the other smiled.

Richie lifted his head and parted his lips, teeth stuck together. Although it wasn’t a smile - Richie was showing Eddie his braces. “Oh! They look so cool.” Richie had blue strings holding the wires together, and they matched his eyes.

“No, they don’t.” Richie looked at Eddie with a sad expression and a lopsided smile. Eddie decided to buy him another ring pop and his heart was beating fast from fear. He didn’t know if Richie would accept his proposal.

“I think they-“

“Hey, look at that! Princess Richie has a metal mouth.” Eddie’s whole body went still from Henry’s voice.

Richie stayed quiet, eyes jumping from Eddie to his lunch tray. He wanted to say something, Eddie could tell, but was probably scared of opening his mouth, of getting more insults. Eddie hated seeing him like this.

“What, your parents finally noticed your buck teeth? Thought they don’t want a beaver for a kid?” Eddie’s entire body suddenly felt big, and his hands started shaking with anger. He saw a tear run down Richie’s cheek and that was it. He stood up on the bench to be slightly taller than Henry, fists clenched and numb from pressure.

“Shut  _up,_ Henry! You can’t talk to him like this.” Eddie was deeply satisfied with the utterly shocked expression on Henry’s face.

But a second later he sneered, getting closer to the table. Eddie wanted to bang something on top of his head and see him go into the floor like those games in the arcade where you squashed squirrels. “D’ you say something, fairy boy? Your  _boyfriend_  here summoned you for protection?”

Something about the way Henry said ‘boyfriend’ made Eddie see red: as if it was something vile,  _wrong,_ disgusting. Eddie  _loved_ Richie, and he didn’t care what Henry thought about it. In fact, he didn’t care what any of them thought. Eddie bent down to pick up his bowl of mac and cheese and smashed it straight into Henry’s sweaty face, grunting and pushing it to make sure it stays there. In fact, he was so entranced in the motion that he didn’t feel himself tipping forward when Henry started stepping back but felt hands wrap around his knees, holding him in place. He looked back when he regained stability and saw Richie grin at him from below, eyes shining and teeth showing. Just like Eddie liked him. He grinned back and was about to take Richie’s mac and cheese to continue the attack, but Beverly beat him to it, squeezing out all of her apple juice into Henry’s back from where she sat in front of Richie and Eddie. Richie whistled loud and started clapping, getting the teacher’s attention. Henry stood with a vicious expression on his face, and when he saw Mrs. Peterson, he stormed off huffing and puffing. Eddie didn’t miss an opportunity to throw the empty apple juice at the back of his head. He felt exhilarated like he could run thirty laps.

But he never got to go to recess, and neither did Richie and Beverly. They all stayed in the classroom imprisoned for their bravery. Eddie thought it was unfair but he loved being alone with Richie, and he liked Beverly a lot, she wasn’t mean and gossipy. She quietly read the book in her corner while Richie and Eddie sat by the window cross-legged, watching the other kids play.

“Eds, I’m sorry I gave back the ring. It was stupid.”

Eddie never apologized, but the image of Richie’s warm eyes in the cafeteria kept floating in his mind, begging him to be more reasonable. “Don’t call me that.” He paused, breathing out the irritation. “I’m sorry I called you four-eyed. I like your glasses.”

Richie involuntarily pushed them further on his nose, frames taped but lenses new and shiny, except for a couple of fingerprints on the right one. “I’m sorry I called you a gnome. You’re just compact.” Richie tried to suppress the grin, but it blossomed anyway, making Eddie’s stomach feel uneasy.

“It’s fine. I broke the ring, so I guess you don’t have to hold my hand anymore.”

Richie suddenly stood up and ran towards his backpack. Eddie and Beverly’s eyes met in mutual confusion but then Richie returned, reaching his hand out to Eddie. In front of him was a sour apple ring pop, neatly wrapped, the candy sticking to the package from the heat. Eddie could feel his face heat up, and he took it from Richie’s hand, his own shaking a little.

But then Richie grabbed it back, opening it quickly. He explained himself when he saw Eddie’s furrowed brows. “I’m supposed to do it, not you.” He took the ring out and grabbed onto Eddie’s left hand, sliding it on the ring finger. Only it instantly fell to the side, too lose to hold on its own. Richie chuckled all embarrassed, cheeks pink and braces shining from the pouring sunlight.  _Pretty._

“Spaghetti, your fingers are too tiny.” He took the ring out and turned Eddie’s hand to fit it on the thumb. It was still too big but not big enough to completely fall off. Eddie instantly put it in his mouth, his jaw clenching from the sour taste. His face got small, nose scrunching up as the taste got sweeter. Richie’s hands flew to Eddie’s cheeks, squeezing them a little. “Cute, cute,  _cute!”_

Eddie slapped his hands away, blushing the deepest red. He giggled and extended his pinky. “Peace?”

Instead of completing the gesture Richie laced all of their fingers together and quickly leaned in to kiss Eddie on the cheek, wet and loud. Eddie laughed, wiping his face with Richie’s hand and he never felt more happy and light in his life. Maybe it was throwing things at Henry, maybe it was the sugar, but Eddie thought it was all Richie. He was married again. Everything was good.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> HHHHH I can't write anything sad, I'm sorry (not really :P)
> 
> tumblr: notsugarandspice


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